21 Unforgettably Unusual Day Trips and Getaways From Toronto

Toronto is a great destination in itself, but travel just a few hours outside the city, and an unusual world of possibilities opens up. Of course, there are the obvious day trips from Toronto—the vineyards of Niagara-on-the-Lake, the theatre of Stratford—but for those looking for a memorable experience that’s off the beaten track, we’ve compiled this list of amazing, unusual getaways from Toronto.

<h3>The First Tim Hortons</h3><br /> Tim Hortons's first location features a small museum, a replica of the original 1964 sign and a bronze plaque commemorating the iconic site. Famous for its association with one of Canada's best-loved hockey players, the café originally served only two products—coffee and doughnuts. Interesting fact: the original doughnut selection included two that remain the most popular today, the apple fritter and the Dutchie.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 78km (48 miles)<br /> • Tim Hortons, 65 Ottawa St. N., Hamilton, 905-544-4515, <a href="http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenontario/timhortons1.html" target="_blank">website</a><br /> </i>

<h3>Justin Bieber’s Stratford</h3><br /> Everybody knows that Stratford, Ontario has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival, but did you know that visitors to the town can also literally walk in the footsteps of pop sensation Justin Bieber? This clever Justin Bieber tour utilizes a specially created map detailing all his favourite childhood haunts in Stratford, from his favourite ice cream parlour to the schools he attended to the place he took his first date.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 179km (111 miles)<br /> • Justin Bieber’s Stratford, Stratford, <a href="http://www.visitstratford.ca/justin/justin-bieber.html" target="_blank">website</a><br /> </i>

<h3>Collingwood Elvis Festival</h3><br /> The King of Rock and Roll may be dead (or is he?), but his spirit is alive and kicking at the Collingwood Elvis Festival, held every July. Hundreds of Elvis impersonators descend on this Blue Mountains town to participate in the colourful parade and compete for the title of best performer in various Elvis-based categories. See incredible renditions of The King’s hits and schmooze with other Presleyphiles.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 150km (93 miles)<br /> • Collingwood Elvis Festival, 1-866-444-1162, <a href="http://www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com/" target="_blank">collingwoodelvisfestival.com</a></i>

<h3>Dundern Castle</h3><br /> Once the home of Canada’s pre-confederation premier Sir Allan MacNab (ancestor of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), Dundern Castle has been frozen in time in the mid-1850's. $3 million has been spent to restore 42 of Dundern's historic rooms to reflect its look during its regency heyday and open them to the public. Christmas is a great time to visit as the house lends itself beautifully to an annual Victorian Christmas event.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 74km (46 miles)<br /> • Dundern Castle, 610 York Blvd., Hamilton, 905-546-2872, <a href="http://www.hamilton.ca/CultureandRecreation/Arts_Culture_And_Museums/HamiltonCivicMuseums/Dundurn/Dundurn_Castle.htm" target="_blank">website</a></i>

<h3>St. Jacobs Mennonite Story</h3><br /> Located in the heart of Mennonite country, this quirky attraction teaches visitors about the fascinating culture of the Mennonite and Amish communities that occupy this part of Ontario. Look out for the ubiquitous horse-drawn cabs that dominate the country lanes round these parts.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 135km (83 miles)<br /> • St. Jacobs Mennonite Story, 1406 King St. N., St. Jacobs, 519-664-3518, <a href="http://www.stjacobs.com/mennonite-story/" target="_blank">stjacobs.com/mennonite-story</a></i>

<h3>Ontario’s Badlands</h3><br /> French trappers called these “<i>les mauvaises terres à traverser</i>” (the bad lands to cross), and that just about sums up the characteristics of The Cheltenham Badlands with its steep slopes and gullies of alternating shale and clay, forming massive, spectacularly coloured undulating rock striations. Located on the Niagara Escarpment, the badlands are a great diversion while you’re hiking the Bruce Trail.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 60km (37</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • Ontario’s Badlands, Olde Base Line Rd. and Dixie Rd., Caledon, <a href="http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/cheltenham-hills" target="_blank">website</a></i>

<h3>The Streetcar Museum</h3><br /> This unusual museum allows visitors to ride 2km of track on a vintage streetcar and take in the trams, interurban trains and suburban light rail vehicles from decades past, preserved by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association. Recognize any of this museum's exhibits? Many of these trains have been in backdrops for period TV and movie productions, from <i>Anne of Green Gables</i> to <i>Cinderella Man.<br /> • Distance from Toronto: 77km (48</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • Halton Country Radial Railway, 136292 Guelph Line, Milton, 519-856-9802, <a href="http://www.hcry.org/" target="_blank">hcry.org</a><br /> </i>

<h3><br /> Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum</h3><br /> Located in Mount Hope, the Warplane Heritage Museum allows you to take a cockpit tour of classic military aircraft or arrange for a kids’ sleepover in the hanger. You can even hitch a ride in a WW2 warplane. Patrons can choose from a Douglas Dakota, a de Havilland Tiger Moth bi-wing or, at the pricier end of the price spectrum, the world’s last passenger-carrying Dam-Busting WW2 Lancaster.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 84km (52 miles)<br /> • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, 9280 Airport Rd., Mount Hope, 1-877-347-3359, <a href="http://www.warplane.com/" target="_blank">warplane.com</a></i>

<h3>Hamilton Museum of Steam Technology</h3><br /> Welcome to Canada’s Industrial Revolution! The oldest steam engines in Canada are here, housed in a 19<sup>th</sup>-century architectural landmark. These 70-ton steam engines pumped the first clean water to the city of Hamilton over 140 years ago. One of these old girls is still operating demonstrations every day, and is worth a visit just to marvel at her.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 66km (41</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • </i><i>Hamilton Museum of Steam Technology, 900 Woodward Ave., Hamilton, 905-546-4797, <a href="http://www.hamilton.ca/CultureandRecreation/Arts_Culture_And_Museums/HamiltonCivicMuseums/SteamMuseum/" target="_blank">website</a></i>

<h3>Bell Homestead</h3><br /> Not many people realize that this unassuming white Ontarian house was the backdrop to a scientific breakthrough that would reshape history. Welcome to the home of Alexander Graham Bell, the teacher of the deaf who invented the telephone. This is the site where he breathed life into his ideas for a "speaking telegraph” in the 1880s. The grounds include three restored buildings and a large collection of Bell family artefacts.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 110km (68 miles)<br /> • Bell Homestead, 94 Tutela Heights Rd., Brantford, 519-756-6220, <a href="http://www.bellhomestead.ca/" target="_blank">bellhomestead.ca</a></i>

<h3>African Lion Safari</h3><br /> Go wild and take a safari, Ontario-style. Drive through the games reserves and get close to over 1,000 exotic birds and animals that roam freely in large expanses. Guests are invited to drive through in their own vehicles or take the Safari Tour Bus.<br /> <br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 90km (56</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • African Lion Safari, 1386 Cooper Rd., Hamilton, 519-623-9542, <a href="http://www.lionsafari.com/" target="_blank">lionsafari.com</a><br /> </i>

<h3><br /> Discovery Harbour</h3><br /> Penetanguishene’s Discovery Harbour is the historic home port of two replica tall ships, the HMS Bee and HMS Tecumseh. Discover what life was like aboard a rigged topsail schooner in the early 1800's and get a glimpse into the daily lives of those who manned the original British naval and military base built here to protect Upper Canada after the war if 1812.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 153km (95</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • Discovery Harbour, 93 Jury Dr., Penetanguishene, 705-549-8064, <a href="http://www.discoveryharbour.on.ca/" target="_blank">discoveryharbour.on.ca</a></i>

<h3>Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons</h3><br /> Imagine what it would have been like as a pioneer settler in 1639 living in Ontario's first European community totalling 66 people and representing one fifth of the entire population of New France. Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons was the headquarters for the French Jesuit Mission to the Huron Wendat people and survived as such until 1649 when the community was forced to flee, burning their homes behind them. Find out why at the interpretive centre!<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 149km (93</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • </i><i>Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons, 16164 Hwy. 12 E., Midland, 705-526-7838, </i><a href="http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca/" target="_blank"><i>saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca</i></a>

<h3><br /> The Martyr’s Shrine</h3><br /> After an immersion in pioneering at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (see slide #17), you can make a pilgrimage to the shrine of eight Jesuit saints who lived, worked and were martyred in this region during warfare between the Iroquois and the Huron in the mid-17th century. Pay homage to the relics (including the skull of St. Jean Brebeuf), which rest in the Shrine Church and learn about the pope’s visit here in 1982.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 148km (92</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • The Martyr’s Shrine, 16163 Hwy. 12 W., Midland, 1-855-526-3788, <a href="http://www.martyrs-shrine.com/" target="_blank">martyrs-shrine.com</a></i>

<h3>Peterborough Lift Lock</h3><br /> Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway—also known as the Peterborough Lift Lock—is a National Historic Site. When it was completed in 1904, it was the highest hydraulic lift lock ever built, with a vertical lift of nearly 20 metres (65 feet) and was reputed to be the largest unreinforced concrete structure in the world. Even more amazing was the fact that at the time conventional locks usually only had a two-metre (seven-foot) rise.<em id="__mceDel"><br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 140km (87</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • Peterborough Lift Lock, 354 Hunter St. E., Peterborough, 705-750-4950, <a href="www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/visit6/lock21.aspx" target="_blank">website</a></i></em>

<h3><br /> HMCS Haida</h3><br /> Explore the last surviving tribal class destroyer left on the planet! Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada, this WW2 British-built warship was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943, and served in Korean and Cold War missions until she was decommissioned in 1963. The Haida sank more enemy surface tonnage than any other Canadian warship.<br /> <i>• Distance from Toronto: 73km (45</i><i> miles)</i><i><br /> • HMCS Haida, 658 Catherine St. N., Hamilton, 905-526-6742, <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/on/haida/activ.aspx" target="_blank">website</a></i>

— Carol Spode runs Tailor-Made Toronto—http://britgirlintoronto.wordpress.com—which offers Toronto-based itinerary planning tailored to a client’s interests and time frame. If you are a visitor, have visitors coming to stay or simply want to find out how exciting and diverse Toronto can be, then leave a comment on Carol’s blog. Contact: britgirlintoronto@wordpress.com.

This is your list for unusual day trips? More like a list of the most boring places around who havnt seen a visitor in a ages lol except for the 3 amazing trips like the African Lions Safari, some mystery Cave adventures somewhere undisclosed and hot air balloon rides. I also agree that this site design is confusing and cluttered. The descriptions for the slide show sites are weak at best and in some cases cut off mid sentence. Plus I was disappointed there was no additional info, location info or any links to find out about the sites, i.e. the Caves posting. What a wierd list and half ass attempt to throw a list up. I could of done a list in 5mins that would have been better than this.

Studio124.ca is Singhampton,Ontario’s fascinating sculpture park.the art studio and forest ,with its eclectic collection of sculpture installations and whimsical works are set in 3 acres of lush forest. Sculptor Marion Bartlett and woodworker Rick Bino have created an entertaining yet peaceful enclave to visit on the way to Collingwood, or just an art lover’s destination. 90minutes north of the GTA off Hwy 124 near Brewster’s lake. Open weekends from 10 until 5 or by appointment . 124 Lakeview rd,Singhampton,on.